Saturday, July 17, 2010

Staying Safe on the Water

If you want to learn about something in particular it helps to ask the experts. Just remember the experts aren't always the people with degrees and a scholarly background.  If you want to know how to stay safe in the water ask people who work on the water.

gCaptain calls itself "The Site for Maritime Professionals" and it seems to live up to its own billing. Recently on its blog there have been two articles about water safety by Mario Vittone. Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning and The Truth About Cold Water. They are both well worth a read.

gCaptain's blog can lead to all sorts of discoveries. I quickly stumbled across a link to Low-tech Magazine's article on Lost knowledge: ropes and knots. I have more than a few books on knots. I used to be handy at some of the more typical knots used on small water craft. The list of links at the end sent me running off to look into the art of splicing ropes together. Something I never did get around to learning to do.

With some water safety tips to learn and some knots to relearn I better be careful or I'll find myself in a dinghy soon sailing around Lake Ontario.

6 comments:

LynnM said...

I had the experience of nearly drowning just as described when I was a pre-teen. Parents around, of course. No one noticing. It became a personal "I nearly drowned" experience. I won't bore you with more details. Thanks for the article.

Unknown said...

Don't forget you need a boating licence now. http://www.boaterexam.com/canada/

David G said...

LynnM:
For me the drowning info was important but I'm much more careful around cold water. I know how it can shut down the body almost instantly. Water is wonderful stuff but it has to be treated with respect. Cold spring rivers and lakes are more dangerous than they seem. I feel wrong being in a small boat without a life jacket on. I may look silly but I feel safer.

Wayne:
I haven't checked recently. It used to be a power boat only license. As I remember there wasn't too much safety coverage behind the license. Some but not much.

LynnM said...

On my cul-du-sac of 14 families, two men have drowned recently, one while on a Spanish vacation with his family and the other kayaking with his son and other local group members.

This article appeared recently in one of the tabloids which mentions the danger of heatstroke and trying to cool off in even temperate water.
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/186443/Benidorm-the-last-resort-for-Scots

LynnM said...

David, I probably shouldn't overwhelm your comment section but it is a topic that as you can tell concerns me. After Stephen died kayaking the week before Christmas I wrote to a friend in Ohio who sent me this article on a serious risk on the river:

http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/lowhead.htm

David G said...

Overwhelm away LynnM. I'll collect this link, go looking for some others, and put together a follow up in a few days.

I'm thinking of having Saturdays be dedicated to the topic of Safety for the next little while. There is a lot of info out there on how to look after oneself.